Novelty and amusement container

ABSTRACT

A novelty and amusement device comprising a transparent container for containing a condiment, such as salt or the like, which is visible through the container, and providing a cap for the container of opaque material which is adapted to contain a refillable supply of another condiment, such as pepper or the like, which is invisible to the user and observers and which when the device is inverted as in conventional use will dispense the condiment in the hidden compartment and the condiment in the transparent container will remain within the container.

ited States Patent ciilan 1 Jan. 18, 1972 i541 NOVELTY AND AMUSEMENT FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS CONTAINER 563,762 8/1944 Great Britain ..222/l42.5 {72] Inventor: William A. McMillan, Los Angeles, Calif.

. Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham [73] Assignee. H. Flshlove & (30., Chicago, Ill. Assistant ExaminerR. T. Stouffer [22] Filed: Apr. 13, 1970 Attorney-Max R. Kraus 21 A 1. No.: 28 357 I pp 57 ABSTRACT [52] U.S.Cl. ..272/27 N, 222/142.1 A n lty an amusement device comprising a transparent 51 llnt. Cl. ..A63j 23/00 container for containing condiment, such as salt or the like, [58] Field of Search ..272/8 R, 8 N, 27 R, 27 N; which is visible through the container, and providing a cap for 46/1 R, 1 D, 11, 91; ZZZ/142.1, 142.2, 142.4, 142.5, the container ofopaque material which is adapted to contain a 1426, refillable supply of another condiment, such as pepper or the like, which is invisible to the user and observers and which [56] References Cned when the device is inverted as in conventional use will UNITED STATES PATENTS dispense the condiment in the hidden compartmentand the condiment in the transparent container will remain within the 3,145,880 8/1964 Whatley ..222/565 X container, 1,454,170 5/1923 Hyatt ....222/565 X 2,158,923 5/1939 Baron ..222/545 X 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEUMMIWZ 3635Z7O Inventor WlLLlAM A. MCMILLAN BY M /flm- ATTY.

NOVELTY AND AMUSEMENT CONTAINER BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention is to provide a salt shaker which is of conventional appearance and contains a condiment such as salt in the transparent container, which is visible through the container, and in which the opaque closure cap provides a secret compartment which contains another condiment, such as pepper or the like, so that when the salt shaker is'inverted for use the pepper will be discharged from the secret compartment and the salt will remain in the transparent container. This provides a surprise to the user and observers and affords amusement and entertainment.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device showing the transparent container for containing a supply of condiment, such as salt, with the removable opaque cap therefor containing a supply of another condiment such as pepper or the like;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2, and,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the disk.

The salt shaker in outward appearance is adapted to be of conventional form and comprises a transparent container formed of glass or the like, generally indicated by the numeral 10, having an externally threaded neck portion 12. Salt or other condiment 13 is poured into the container 10. The cap for closing the container is generally indicated by the numeral 14 and has an internally threaded portion 16 adjacent the mouth thereof, with the upper portion 18 of the cap being unthreaded. A shoulder 20 is provided between the threaded and unthreaded portions. The cap is of opaque material so that the contents therein would not be visible. The cap has the usual outlet openings 22.

A disk 24 made of cardboard or the like is positioned in said cap against the shoulder 20 and is held in position by means of the thread 16 of the cap. With the disk 24 positioned in the cap, two compartments 26 and 27 are formed, both of which are invisible from the outside. Compartment 26 provides a hidden compartment for containing a condiment 28 such as pepper or the like. The cap may be readily refilled with the condiment 28 by removing the cardboard disk 24, that is, by rotating it so that it unthreads and partially filling the hidden compartment 26. The cap compartment 27 communicates with the interior of the container and will receive some of the condiment 13 when the container is inverted as when in use. If pepper is the condiment within the container 10 then the hidden compartment 26 in the cap will be filled with salt. Thus, a pair of salt and pepper shakers may be provided, each of which will dispense a condiment different from that which is visible in the containers 10.

The salt shaker, for example, when on the table or the like appears as a conventional salt shaker and the salt is visible through the transparent container 10) and a person using salt shaker would normally assume that salt would be dispensed through the cap openings 22. When being used the shaker is inverted and the salt in the container 10 will flow into the compartment 27 and remain trapped there and the pepper 28 in the hidden compartment will be dispensed through the openings 22 in the cap. This produces an unexpected result and will afford amusement and entertainment.

In lieu of using a transparent container 110, the container may be opaque but should contain an identifying insignia indicating the contents thereof. Thus, the container may be marked to contain salt but will in fact dispense pepper.

What is claimed is:

l. A novelty and amusement device comprising a container, an opening in said container, an opaque cap closing said opening, said cap being provided with only one set of discharge openings, means separating said device into two compartments, the interior 0 one 0 said compartments being hl den from view exteriorly of said device, and containing a first comminuted material of a particle size to pass through said discharge openings, means at all times communicating said one of said compartments with said discharge openings, the in terior of the other of said compartments being visible from view exteriorly of said device, a second comminuted material of a substance different from said first material disposed within said other of said compartments, and means disposed within said device for completely blocking passage of said second material from said other of said compartments to said discharge openings.

2. A novelty and amusement device as set forth in claim 1 in which the means disposed within the device for completely blocking passage of the second comminuted material is a disk removably positioned in said opaque cap.

3. A novelty and amusement device as set froth in claim 1 in which one comminuted material is salt and the other comminuted material is pepper.

4. A novelty and amusement device as set forth in claim 1 in which the container has a threaded neck and in which the cap is internally threaded for threaded engagement with said neck and in which the means for blocking passage of the second comminuted material is a disk removably positioned in said cap.

5. A novelty and amusement device as set forth in claim 1 in which one of said compartments is in the opaque cap and the other said compartment is a transparent container.

t It i l lt 

1. A novelty and amusement device comprising a container, an opening in said container, an opaque cap closing said opening, said cap being provided with only one set of discharge openings, means separating said device into two compartments, the interior of one of said compartments being hidden from view exteriorly of said device, and containing a first comminuted material of a particle size to pass through said discharge openings, means at all times communicating said one of said compartments with said discharge openings, the interior of the other of said compartments being visible from view exteriorly of said device, a second comminuted material of a substance different from said first material disposed within said other of said compartments, and means disposed within said device for completely blocking passage of said second material from said other of said compartments to said discharge openings.
 2. A novelty and amusement device as set forth in claim 1 in which the means disposed within the device for completely blocking passage of the second comminuted material is a disk removably positioned in said opaque cap.
 3. A novelty and amusement device as set froth in claim 1 in which one comminuted material is salt and the other comminuted material is pepper.
 4. A novelty and amusement device as set forth in claim 1 in which the container has a threaded neck and in which the cap is internally threaded for threaded engagement with said neck and in which the means for blocking passage of the second comminuted material is a disk removably positioned in said cap.
 5. A novelty and amusement device as set forth in claim 1 in which one of said compartments is in the opaque cap and the other said compartment is a transparent container. 